Ave Atque Vale
by Tzadikim
Summary: Thalia was slowly forgetting, but the others lost it all. For Cheese. Part Two of the Ages-Verse.


**And here is my story from the Ghost Writers. This is for the prompts that Cheese requested. She did: **_1. Smile 2. Run away 3. When We Were Young—The Summer Set Lyrics. _

**For the Summer Set, I used pieces of the lyrics incorporated into the dialogue. Eh. Not my best with that attempt. :-) There are some references to Know Thyself. So that could make this fit as a companion piece. **

**This is completed. I won't add more. **

**Disclaimer**: Last time I checked I am a female brunette. Nice try, but I know that I'm not Rick Riordan.

**Title: **Ave Atque Vale

**Summary**: Thalia was slowly forgetting, but the others lost it all. For Cheese.

* * *

_Do you remember, back when…_

_When we were young and reckless_

_Dumb and fearless_

_Fighting in the streets_

_Will you remembered me?_

_Young forever back then…_

— **When We Were Young—The Summer Set**

* * *

Thalia never knew the exact words of being quasi-immortal.

Maybe slow. Everything seemed slower, as if she was trapped in molasses. She barely moved while the entire world rushed around her. The real shock came when she saw her cousin Nico. Age had warped his back and vanished his hair. Liver-spotted skin was stretched tightly over his frail frame of bones. He was a shriveled echo of his young self, and leaning heavily on his ebony cane.

Thalia felt a pang of guilt. He looked so old, and she looked so young. Even though he was technically older than her, it felt wrong having the bleary memories of that ten-year-old boy who was so naive and innocent.

Central Park was oddly quiet at night. The son of Hades recommended meeting here. Thalia wasn't sure as to why he wanted to see her. They would occasionally catch up every few years, and would make thin promises to see each other more often.

Nico smiled with a closed mouth, probably not to show his remaining teeth to anyone. "I bring news," he said in a raspy voice. "You may need to sit down."

Thalia stood up straighter, her head tilted up. She was anticipating the news. "No, thanks. I prefer to stand."

"It's about Percy. And Luke," he added the last part as an afterthought.

A simple piece of anxiety struck her. Thalia closed her eyes and fuzzy images passed through her mind. It's been almost twenty years since most of her friends died, so why would Nico have news? She opened her eyes to force the memories to leave. "Come again?"

"Thalia, please," said Nico. His dark eyes become glossy. "You're going to need to sit."

Thalia sat on the stone bench, her shoes kicking up the soft soil underneath. "What is it?"

Nico struggled to speak at first. "I…Percy…" He then took a deep breath. "He's back. Percy optioned for the Isles of Blessed, apparently. I saw him yesterday."

The huntress opened her mouth, but no words came out. She should be happy that such a dear friend and family member were back. But she truly felt empty. "And Luke?"

Gods. Percy. Her last memory of him was at his own damn funeral. Then the funeral pyre was lit and one of her dearest friends became dust and ashes. Thalia's memories were becoming harder to remember now, but she struggled to keep them. Luke was a different matter. Maybe she did developed feelings for him once, but things had changed, and then he died.

Nico nodded. "Just a few hours ago. A teenager offered to help me cross the street and tried to steal my wallet. I chased him down the street, and then—" he snapped his fingers, "Hermes appeared. Told me to help his kid get to camp. Poseidon told me the same for Percy the day before. Some coincidence."

Right. A coincidence. So that's what they're calling it these days. "Anyone else?" Thalia croaked; her words felt thick. "Annabeth? Jason? Are they all coming back?"

"I don't know," he said truthfully. "But, Thalia. They don't remember anything."

"What?" It came out as a small blur.

"Drinking from the River Lethe—"

"I know," Thalia interrupted. "I was there for that adventure. But what you are trying to tell me is that the people I care about are coming back to life, and they will never remember me? Remember us?"

Nico didn't answer. Then he smiled something small and sad. "They're back. That's what counts."

Thalia felt like running away. This wasn't fair. First she had to watch her friends and family die, slowly forgetting them, and now some were coming back and _they_ don't remember anything. Twisted, that's what it was.

"What do you think this mean?" she asked him. "If anyone else got reincarnated around the same time, well, you know it feels funny."

"I don't want to think," Nico admitted. He sounded so tired. "I'm too old to be a part of anything now. Whatever will be happening is up to them."

"The next generation," she said dryly. _"Tempora heroica."_

"True," mused the old man. "For us, it's hail and farewell."

Thalia caught an odd look on his face in the weakened moonlight. It felt like getting punched in stomach once the realization came. "How much longer do you have left?"

"Remember when we were young?" he averted the question. He looked away and starred at the moon with a wistful expression. "Remember how different we were? Pretty wonderful, wasn't?"

"Nico…"

"I'm old," Nico continued. "I've lived a good life. Got married to a wonderful woman. I'm ready to move on with no regrets left."

For the first time during this conversation, Thalia laughed. It was sharp as a jagged edge of glass. "That isn't helping." Sobering, she stood up. "I wish we didn't had to end this way."

Family. They came and left for her. Zeus always had to, her mom wasn't an exception to the rule, and Jason came back. Then she got trapped in a tree, Annabeth grew up, and Luke became evil. After that she earned several cousins, fought in another war, and slowly watched her friends and family withered and aged into memory. It wasn't fair, but it happened. Life forced things to move on.

"Who knows," Nico started to walk near a patch dense of shadows under a tree. He turned his head back. "I may even come back dumb and fearless."

Thalia gave him a grudging grin. Now she was going to see them all over again, and she was going to help them become heroes. "Farewell, Nico di Angelo."

"_Ave atque vale,_ Thalia Grace."


End file.
